Five Deadly Venoms (1978)
"Wu du" (original title)

A dying teacher instructs his final student to check on the activities of five former pupils, each of whom he taught a unique and special style of kung-fu to: The Centipede, Snake, Scorpion... See full summary »

Director:

Cheh Chang

Writers:

Cheh Chang, Kuang Ni

Stars:

Sheng Chiang, Philip Kwok, Feng Lu

Cast

Credited cast:
Sheng Chiang	...	Yang Tieh
Philip Kwok	...	He Yuan-xin, Gecko / Lizard (as Kuo Chui)
Feng Lu	...	Zhang Yiao-tian, Centipede
Pai Wei	...	Qi Dong, Snake
Chien Sun	...	Ma Chow, Scorpion
Meng Lo	...	Liang Shen, Toad
Lung Wei Wang	...	Judge
Feng Ku	...	Yuen
Shu Pei Sun
Huang-hsi Liu
Lao Shen
Hui Huang Lin
Ching Ho Wang
Han Chen Wang
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Szu-ying Chien

Storyline

A dying teacher instructs his final student to check on the activities of five former pupils, each of whom he taught a unique and special style of kung-fu to: The Centipede, Snake, Scorpion, Lizard, and Toad (hence the title). His final student, who knows a little of each style must team up with one of the other good students to destroy the evil ones if there are any. Greed and treachery ensue as the student discovers that some of the students are indeed evil. But which one can he trust enough to team up with?

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Plot Keywords:

kung fu | mask | martial arts | torture | fist fight | 

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Taglines:

Pick Your Poison!

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Genres:

Action

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

12 August 1978 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

The 5 Deadly Venoms

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shaw Brothers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "snake" role was originally intended for a woman.

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Goofs

Near the end where Lizard, Scorpion and the last pupil confront Snake and Centipede at the Snake's home, Lizard addresses Centipede as, "Number 5." The Centipede was actually "Number 1," and was referred to as such throughout the rest of the movie. The Toad was "Number 5," and was referred to as such throughout the rest of the movie. This is undoubtedly an error in the English dubbing, not in the original Chinese dialogue.

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Quotes

Yang Tieh: Poison Clan Rocks the world!

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Connections

Featured in Chop Socky: Cinema Hong Kong (2003)

User Reviews

My ultimate favorite!

This martial art film is a classic. A storytelling that is very profound, exact, and to the point. " Five Deadly Venoms" makes actual sense. You have a dying instructor who teaches his final student about the five students before him a special kung fu style. The five students were known as the poison clan: The Five Deadly Venoms. They were The Centipede, the Snake, the Lizard, the Scorpion, and the Toad. The Centipede was known for his speed and striking power of that animal. The Snake was known for his agility The Scorpion was known for his pincer grips The Lizard was known for his wall-climbing ability The Toad was known for his near- invulnerability. Three of them are known for committing atrocities against society. Only two of them, aren't so bad. But which ones? So far, the least evil ones are the Lizard and the Toad. The other three haven't seen one or the other after the teaching. The choreography was unbelievable, the action was so profound, it was a shame that the Toad fighter was killed, and they double-crossed the eyewitness they forced to lie, and one of the guards as well. The ending fight scene was amazing, I couldn't have enjoyed it more. This movie got a lot of worth, compared to the others I have seen. A collectible item, and a movie must have and see! 5 stars!